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Longtime Sonos user that is looking to upgrade their setup. I currently use Sonos mostly for music, but have been eyeing an upgrade to my setup for a while now.

My main space is pretty much open floor plan. I have a great room with 15 foot ceilings, and behind it we have our dining table. Our current audio comes from a Sonos Move and an old Sonos 1 in the kitchen.

I am looking to upgrade the sound experience in the Great Room for music listening and the TV experience. I am initially thinking of replacing the Move with a Sonos Arc. I can place the Move somewhere else on the first floor. I could also look into doing the Arc + 2 Era 100's on stands behind the couch. Just not sure that my wife will go for it "aesthetically" since the dining table is already in pretty close proximity to the couch.

My photos attached show the Great Room, and my floor plan. I know the TV is #toohigh, but we have baseboard underneath the entertainment stand. The red on the floor plan shows the placement of my current Sonos setup.

Any thoughts or suggestions to upgrade the sound on my first floor

Great Room

 

 

Floor Plan

 

 

I'd start with an Arc Ultra and a Sub 4, the height channels will be a bit week with the high ceilings but the rest of the sound should be very good.

 Mounting options for the Ultra, in my preferred order, keeping mind the required forward offset.

Mounted to a bracket attached to the TV and sitting below it.

Sitting on the cabinet below the TV. 

A wall mount below the TV. 

The 100s behind the couch would be good but they are pretty flexible in location. Perfect positioning is great but even horribly positioned (like I have mine) still sounds better than no surrounds.


I'd start with an Arc Ultra and a Sub 4, the height channels will be a bit week with the high ceilings but the rest of the sound should be very good.

 Mounting options for the Ultra, in my preferred order, keeping mind the required forward offset.

Mounted to a bracket attached to the TV and sitting below it.

Sitting on the cabinet below the TV. 

A wall mount below the TV. 

The 100s behind the couch would be good but they are pretty flexible in location. Perfect positioning is great but even horribly positioned (like I have mine) still sounds better than no surrounds.

What is the difference between a bracket attached to the TV vs. a wall mount below the TV?  TBH, I think Arc Ultra is probably outside of my budget.  It’s probably Arc or Beam.  Does that change your thoughts?  


I'd start with an Arc Ultra and a Sub 4, the height channels will be a bit week with the high ceilings but the rest of the sound should be very good.

 Mounting options for the Ultra, in my preferred order, keeping mind the required forward offset.

Mounted to a bracket attached to the TV and sitting below it.

Sitting on the cabinet below the TV. 

A wall mount below the TV. 

The 100s behind the couch would be good but they are pretty flexible in location. Perfect positioning is great but even horribly positioned (like I have mine) still sounds better than no surrounds.

What is the difference between a bracket attached to the TV vs. a wall mount below the TV?  TBH, I think Arc Ultra is probably outside of my budget.  It’s probably Arc or Beam.  Does that change your thoughts?  

Hello, an advice from me is to put the soundbar how what you want in the position that Stanley said I think he refers to a bracket in the TV because you will have all sound to the height of your ears (more or less), but if it is by this you can use any solution but that the soundbar stays at the height of your ears. Now for the soundbar I think the Arc Ultra could be the best but if your budget don't allow you to purchase this I think that for the Beam (gen2) couldn't be enough so my advice is for you to try to wait a bit until you will have more enough or go with the normal Arc (but practically is almost the same cost ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)


Arc is still available on the Sonos last-chance store page. Personally I'd recommend waiting to get the funds for the Ultra. My Arc is sitting on the bed in the spare room here, I will eventually pass it on to family.

I have 3 Beams and while nice for talking-heads TV watching in smaller rooms they compare poorly to the original Arc and worse to the Ultra for movies and action shows.

The wall mount sits flush to the wall, with your TV mount you would need to extend it a good bit to clear the up-firing speakers as well as dealing with the power and hdmi cable connections . The TV bracket mount needs no new holes in your walls, makes cable management simple and should (buy the right one) solve the positioning issue.

Maybe  Beam gen 2 sitting on the cabinet with the wires minimally hidden, with the intent to re-home it to another room when you can get the Ultra. Your room is bigger than mine and neither Beam or Arc were really adequate for movie watching.


Arc is still available on the Sonos last-chance store page. Personally I'd recommend waiting to get the funds for the Ultra. My Arc is sitting on the bed in the spare room here, I will eventually pass it on to family.

I have 3 Beams and while nice for talking-heads TV watching in smaller rooms they compare poorly to the original Arc and worse to the Ultra for movies and action shows.

The wall mount sits flush to the wall, with your TV mount you would need to extend it a good bit to clear the up-firing speakers as well as dealing with the power and hdmi cable connections . The TV bracket mount needs no new holes in your walls, makes cable management simple and should (buy the right one) solve the positioning issue.

Maybe  Beam gen 2 sitting on the cabinet with the wires minimally hidden, with the intent to re-home it to another room when you can get the Ultra. Your room is bigger than mine and neither Beam or Arc were really adequate for movie watching.

Thanks Stanley.  Assume you are referring to the Sanus mount?  How is the Arc ultra as a replacement for my Sonos Move for music?  


I use a Sanus stand so I don't keep track of the mounts, other than that they are available.

Never owned a Move so I can't compare that.

The Ultra alone does pretty good for music (way better than the Arc) and you're going to see stereo as well as Atmos from it which for me is a big win over my Ones, Play 3s or even my single Play 5.


Hey! The Arc is a great upgrade for your space. Adding Era 100s would boost surround sound, but might feel tight near the dining area. Try the Arc first,big sound upgrade on its own!


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